The Curious Case of The Vermont Bernie Sanders Write-In

(IF YOU ALREADY KNOW THE TWISTED BACK-STORY REGARDING THE FALSE QUOTE OF JANE SANDERS AND HOW JANE PUBLICLY CAME OUT AND TOLD US THAT IT WAS OKAY TO WRITE BERNIE IN, THEN YOU CAN SCROLL DOWN TO THE SCREENSHOTS OF THE CONVERSATION WITH THE PERSON WHO INFILTRATED AND DECEIVED OUR GROUP AND SKIP THE SET-UP)

Hi,

My name is Michael E Sparks and I have spent the last year of my life trying to do everything I could to promote Bernie Sanders and the ideals he champions for our country.

I was a state and county delegate for Bernie Sanders and I have spent most of the past year traveling around to primary states canvassing on behalf of Sanders.

About a month ago I wrote THIS article, which asked people to volunteer and follow my crazy family to Vermont to convince the citizens there of what I referred to as a “Hail-Mary chance for Bernie Sanders to win the Presidency” by taking Vermont’s three electoral votes away from Hillary Clinton and forcing the Presidential race to be decided by the House of Representatives.

I stated from the beginning that it was a long shot, but for those of us who are desperate to break out of this awful Trump/Clinton conundrum, a long shot seemed infinitely better than what we felt would be certain war and hardship, if either of these two took office.

As soon as the article hit, my life became pretty chaotic.

My family and I started rearranging our work and school schedules to get to Vermont, which was pretty hectic.

Also we were contacted by an amazing group called #OpDeny270, which had the goal of organizing a Sanders write-in for the other states where a write-in victory would actually be counted.

Vermont, New Jersey, Alabama, New Hampshire, California, Oregon, Wyoming, Delaware and Iowa do not require the candidate to register in order to win a write-in campaign.

I expressed to our group that I wanted to keep our campaign separate from #OpDeny270, because time was limited and flipping a single state was already a monumental undertaking and also because most of the members of our group were Jill Stein supporters and we did not want to do anything to hurt Jill’s chances of attaining 5% of the national vote, which would qualify The Green Party for federal funding in the 2020 Presidential election and would go a long way towards our Progressive goal of busting up the corporate duopoly.

From the beginning we were very careful to be respectful of Jill Stein’s campaign.

Part of the reason why we were focusing on Vermont is that our numbers indicated that there was a very small Green Party presence there and most people were reluctantly voting for Hillary and had overwhelmingly voted for Sanders in the primary.

We crunched all the numbers beforehand, so we knew exactly what we needed to do in order to flip the state and we were absolutely positive that doing so would, in no way, hurt Jill’s chances at federal funding.

We checked the Vermont write-in laws extensively and found out that we could actually achieve our goal.

Terje Oseberg wrote a fantastic phone-banking program and imported every phone-number in Vermont into it.

People started phone-banking and Vermont residents were responding positively.

We needed to convert 25% of the state’s voters in order to achieve our goal and we were initially flipping 40%.

Terje was constantly telling us how many bankers we needed from day-to-day and really motivating people.

While waiting for my vacation time, I continued to work in my off hours canvassing for Jill Stein locally, so you can imagine my confusion when we started receiving angry responses from people claiming that they were Jill Stein supporters and that they knew that our movement was actually a plot to help Hillary Clinton.

There was no logic to the argument.

For one, I am a very public figure and everyone knows that I am a radical Sanders devotee.

I literally met thousands of Sanders and Stein supporters at the DNC protest in Philadelphia and have been interviewed by everyone from Fox News to Vox to The Washington Post regarding my passion for Bernie Sanders and the values he stands for.

The argument against our movement being for Hillary Clinton made zero sense, because getting Clinton voters to write-in Bernie Sanders was clearly intended to take Vermont away from Clinton, where she currently has a huge lead.

The entire genesis of our movement was an attempt to deprive Clinton of the Presidency and give it to Bernie Sanders, where it rightfully belonged after a rigged “Democratic” Primary.

As we began assigning volunteers and getting organized, we were hyper-conscious of being infiltrated by people who may want to sabotage our operation to insure that Clinton won Vermont.

We were not expecting to be infiltrated by anyone representing Jill Stein, because our group is full of Stein supporters and prior to the event that I am about to explain, we thought of these people as allies.

In fact, I still do feel that Stein supporters and Sanders supporters are allies.

At least I hope we are.

The events I am about to explain leave me saddened and wondering about the intentions of some of those who I thought were on our side.

It was going to be two weeks before our family could arrive in Vermont, so we needed a canvassing coordinator on the ground in Burlington.

Let me be clear, we were absolutely DESPERATE for an experienced canvasser who was already on the ground in Vermont, who could house and train our traveling canvassers.

Enter Nicole Guerin…

In the following conversation Nicole is the gray bubbles and I am the blue bubbles.

Nicole was the key to the entire operation.

She was exactly what we were looking for.

Nicole was an experienced canvasser who supported Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders.

It was a perfect match!!

As it was my job to interview the canvassing coordinator, I was extremely happy that we had found someone who was actually in Burlington, Vermont.

I immediately liked Nicole and went to the group with my recommendation that we train Nicole remotely and give her canvassing literature and allow her to train our traveling volunteers.

Then she informed us that she actually was friends with Bernie and Jane Sanders.

Nicole and I seemed to be on the same page. I was incredibly excited to recommend her to the group.

Nicole expressed concerns that the people of Vermont did not want any part of a campaign that could possibly result in a Trump Presidency.

I informed Nicole that we had changed our group mission statement, in light of Clinton taking a huge lead in the electoral college polls, after the Trump misogyny tape was released.

I told Nicole that we had reframed our mission and that we had accepted that Vermont’s three electoral votes were not going to be enough to stop Clinton, but that we really just wanted to honor Bernie Sanders for a lifetime of commitment to the people of Vermont.

Nicole agreed that this approach would work much better and I had received permission from our group to offer her the position as our canvassing coordinator (not before the higher-ups in our group asked me if I was sure that she was the “real deal” about ten times and every time I assured them that she was.)

Nicole was ecstatic.

Nicole accepted our offer and even said that she could lodge some of our traveling canvassers.

Our group celebrated.

We now had our foot in the door.

The following day, Nicole sent me this message.

It was a video from Claudia Stauber, someone who I have been a big fan of for a while now.

It was Claudia telling people that our movement was actually working for Hillary Clinton.

As you can imagine, we were all hurt and disappointed to hear that Claudia had been misinformed and was unknowingly spreading false information regarding our movement.

I told Nicole that our movement was not related to #OpDeny270 and that I didn’t think such a huge initiative could work and that I felt like it could interfere with Jill’s 5%.

(To my friends at #OpDeny270, I have since changed my opinion in light of the amazing work you guys are doing. I now feel that it is absolutely feasible for you guys to flip Wyoming. But I have to present the truth and the truth is that I did say that it wouldn’t work when I first head about your movement.)

At this point, things began to get interesting.

Nicole was having a crisis of conscience or at least this is what I was lead to believe.

She said that she felt bad about running a secret operation in Bernie and Jane’s backyard and wanted to talk to them about it before she went any further.

She also complimented our canvassing materials.

Nicole reminded me again, how important the Sanders’ approval was regarding our initiative.

I didn’t say anything to her, because I believed at the time that she was laboring under an intense dilemma, but I really feared that talking to Bernie would kill our initiative, because I know that he is bound by his agreement to support Hillary Clinton.

I wanted to ask her not to talk to them, but how could I?

Asking her not to talk to her “friends” would be overstepping a serious boundary.

Then things became strange.

As Nicole had offered her home for canvassers, I told her the days that we would be arriving and told her that we would accept her offer to use her guest room.

At this point Nicole informed me that the room was full and reiterated that she was uncomfortable running a campaign that may be against Bernie’s wishes.

I knew that Bernie would be forced by his position with the DNC to denounce the campaign, but I also knew that we were packed and on our way to Vermont in two days and we needed Nicole to feel strongly about what we were doing, so I suggested…

Nicole agreed to speak to Jane, but not to Bernie.

I supported Nicole’s choice and went to bed that night feeling scared, afraid that all of our work would be ended by a single conversation with Jane Sanders.

Nicole messaged me Sunday morning and told me that the Sanders family was not at home.

Then later that day, Nicole messaged me again and told me that she had spoken with Jane.

I nearly vomited when I saw the message.

I was so scared that we might offend Bernie and Jane in some way, when we had all worked so hard to honor them.

I sat on pins and needles for several hours until the infamous messages came in regarding Jane’s message for us to cease our movement and support the candidates who are “on the ballot”.

I was deeply saddened.

I wrote THIS article (since amended) telling everyone that our movement was over, because Jane Sanders did not approve of it.

Our volunteer group had a range of emotions.

Many were angry with me.

Many were crying and inconsolable.

I have been through some tough events in my life, including the recent death of my mother and the death of one of my children, but I was not at all prepared for the intense grief that overtook me that day.

I told my family..

“Everything aches from my stomach all the way up to my throat. I’ve never felt anything like this.”

Carrie and my daughter were also deeply saddened.

We had worked very hard to juggle our schedules to go to Vermont and thought we were doing something compassionate and decent.

Now, after receiving Nicole’s message and hearing what we believed was Jane’s request to stop the movement, I felt foolish and embarrassed.

So many had worked so hard so hard and for what?

I asked Nicole if I could “use her words” to explain to everyone why we needed to stop the movement and she said that it was okay.

Dave Weigel, at the Washington Post, had been speaking to me on the phone every couple of days and had flown into Vermont to interview me regarding our movement.

I told Nicole to go ahead and do the interview on my behalf.

Nicole told Dave Weigel that there was “no story” and that the movement was over.

This is the part where Nicole said that it was okay to use her words to let people know that our movement was over.

I thanked Nicole for speaking with Jane Sanders and told our group that the movement was over.

Our group unanimously said that they would continue on the movement with or without me.

I told them that I admired their spirit, but that I had already canceled my trip to Vermont and that we had all contacted work and school and told them that we would be in as originally planned.

It was an incredibly chaotic turn of events for our family and for our volunteers.

Nicole informed me that she was grieving too.

I thanked Nicole again for her efforts.

Nicole read my article and told me that she was not comfortable with me going public with her words.

She then told me that she went back to talk to Jane Sanders and that Jane had told her that I shouldn’t use her words.

At the time, I thought this was kind of odd, but as I was grieving, I told myself that I was just reading too much into it.

I reminded Nicole that she had given me permission to use her words.

I told Nicole that I did not feel that it was right to summarize, especially when she had given me permission to “use her words”.

Nicole told me that she visited Jane a third time.

I told Nicole that I was upset about all the misinformation coming from Stein supporters on our efforts and she agreed that it had been ugly.

I told her that the whole thing had soured me on The Green Party, but I still planned to vote for Jill.

And those was the last words that Nicole and I spoke to each other.

Jane Sanders tweeted and said that the conversations were fabricated.

The people in our movement were incredibly angry.

Nicole immediately left our volunteer group.

I told the group members that we had to give Nicole 24 hours to tell her side of the story and we would not make any public statement until that time.

We asked Nicole publicly to make a statement and she did not respond.

Then someone sent us this.

Notice the date, October 13, around the time that Nicole said that she needed to talk to the Sanders family about our movement.

And then of course, Jane Sanders graciously came out and let the world know that Nicole had been lying to our group all along.

Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jane for letting us know that our movement was accepted and for giving us permission to follow our hearts and write in Bernie Sanders on our ballots.

Sadly it appears as if Nicole infiltrated our efforts and fed us lies.

I take full responsibility for this, as I am the one who trusted her and told others to trust her.

I find it deeply troubling that people who we felt were on our same team, went to such great efforts to undermine weeks of work from people who wanted nothing more than to honor Bernie Sanders and his lifetime of fighting for our collective rights.

Has the left become so fractured that Jill Stein supporters are going to great efforts to undermine Bernie Sanders supporters?

And if so, who wins?

The establishment wins! That’s who!!

We all know what it has been like dealing with Hillary Clinton’s deceptive Super-PAC, Correct the Record and now it seems that the victims of these tactics have began using them on others who are on the same team.

And for what?

We made no effort to change the minds of Stein voters in Vermont.

We only tried to flip the Hillary voters to write-in Bernie.

Why would anyone attack such a pure and honest movement?

Apparently we are not alone.

Our friends at #OpDeny270 sent us this (you will have to click it, as every time I enlarged it, the script became too blurry to read).

They say that this is a phone-banking script that some Stein supporters were using to undermine our efforts in Vermont.

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this script and I am not interested in pursuing some sick war with other people who share the same Progressive values as we do.

I do not think that a war between Stein supporters and Sanders supporters is advantageous to our collective cause, so I would like to take this opportunity to ask that we all take a breath and rejoin forces against the establishment.

When elephants fight, the grass suffers.

I am quick to forgive, but in light of this new information, I will be focusing exclusively on Bernie Sanders Write-in and down-ballot candidates.

I know that Jill Stein did not put anyone up to this.

I know that all candidates attract all kinds of people.

But this event has left lots of people deeply injured.

I would expect something like this from those who support Hillary Clinton.

I never expected anything like this from those who support Jill Stein.

Addendum: After our story was released last night, Nicole released a statement admitting guilt and apologizing.

I have empathy for Nicole and it was very difficult for me to go forward with this story, but our group was implicated in something that we were innocent in and the people deserved to know the truth.

We all wish Nicole all the best going forward and we are grateful for her for being an adult and owning up to her actions.

We encourage ALL people who are not happy with their ballot choices to write-in Bernie Sanders as a protest to a rigged election.

Regardless of who you vote for in the Presidential race, please vote in Progressives in all down-ballot races.

I have been reading The Independent posts throughout this entire saga (and before) as well as reading posts from Nicole and Claudia. I am sorry to say it, but I am not a bit surprised at how Nicole and Claudia behaved, They are just as passionate for Jill Stein as you (and myself and 1o’s of millions of Progressives) are for Bernie. One would “hope” that we would be able to share a unified common group for our shared Progressive goals. But the Progressive movement is fractured into too many independent camps and we ought to see that Hillary and her DNC as well as the current Administration members that will follow through with Hillary, will all be working to make sure that Jill and all other Progressive candidates to not have a snowball’s chance of establishing a formidable third option for 2018 or 2020. This is because we have seen the amount of tyrannical behavior and actions Hillary has already demonstrated to gain the nomination (“illegally”) and how crooked she has been proven as the nominee. It should be a clear indicator that Hillary will be even worse once she assumes the power of the highest office in the land and given that the mainstream media is clearly her Ministry of Propaganda for her right of center neoliberal corporate fascist state. So, with that in mind, I believe that she must be stopped at every opportunity in these last weeks and days up until November 8. She is under massive attack now. Jill Stein does not provide that opportunity to give us real leverage in 2016, but clearly Sanders does as your efforts outline. I really think that even in the last couple of weeks as we approach election day on November 8, that there is still a legitimate window of possibility that Hillary may have to step down or be forced to step down as the nominee due to either her health or due to repercussions from the wikileaks and other whistleblowers. Even the news blackout on what is going on with Russia and Syria and the US blaming Russia and risking world war three is making people very frightened of Hillary because she has clearly instigated this entire debacle with the “S’Election” and now Russia. People are getting frightened of both Clinton and her buffoon strawman opposition Trump and both political parties wish they each had a backup candidate. It is not a “yuge” possibility, but it is certainly feasible and we have already heard clamoring for such to occur. Even in the last 24 hours, CNN began to seriously question whether or not Hillary is actually guilty of election fraud among other negative issues all knows to the public by now. Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night (18 Oct) looked and sounded as if he just realized how complicit he and his fellow “journalists” have been in being in collusion with Clinton and her DNC Crime Syndicate. They all looked shell shocked on the panel. I even hear people on the streets expressing anger and betrayal who had up until the last week still supported Hillary. So it could happen that we –Progressive– could still have a chance for Sanders to be replacing Hillary. If that does not happen, then we ought to be prepared to work to present this write in campaign as discussed in Vermont and other write in states to either have a chance and at least show that we did protest vehemently in all we could do even with our hands tied by this outright tyranny against the nation . We have no greater opportunity to be a force than behind Sanders STILL at this time and NOT Jill Stein. Bernie has one the work and has the national recognition, I am sorry, but Jill simply does not. For Claudia to continue to force the lies will be a disaster for all and she is only riding on the coat tails of Bernie Sanders and his MILLIONS of followers at a time when we need to be behind him more than ever. He did not abandon his issues and we have not abandoned him. It takes all of us and we ought to be smart enough to put 110% effort into anything we can do in supporting Sanders over Hillary Clinton until the election is determined. It is just my strong opinion and I mean no offense to any of my fellow Progressives.

Dear Independent Thinker, thank you for laying out the details of how this whole situation occurred. I agree with you, the idea that a write-in campaign for Bernie would be a CTR plot to take votes from Jill Stein was, and is completely illogical, and was something put forward ONLY by Jill Stein supporters. In my non-virtual, actual real life, when I’ve mentioned writing Bernie in, invariably people have gotten upset with me saying that that it would get Trump elected because I was taking votes from Hillary, without fail this is what they would say, with no mention at all of Jill Stein.

Thank you for your honesty.
I often wonder why Bernie didn’t go green, or why he distanced himself from warren. He must know something we don’t. I can not accept hill or DT as they have not earned my vote.
Bernie earned my vote and he won this election.

LOL I was given all of the info and links by the trolls. They did not like me very much. Everyone of them could not provide me video truth of what was. NOT one. The gave me your link to our old blog post. I rejected it as proof. Not video of them talking. Then I was given the other stuff. I rejected that too. They did not get me. I was not aware it being the green party but became aware when they started to call me a troll.

I am leaving the green party. I was not going to vote for Jill as in my state I can’t write in. They did lose a member of the party and I am not going back. I am going to no party as I want to support solutions over a party think. Group think goes crazy and will do anything to stop a solution as long as it is not their solution. I am independent and I support solutions and logic. I will never join a party again.

Barb, you make a bunch of sense. I’m a bit slow at ferreting out the good from bad in politics, with 58 years voting straight Democrat, and now 4 weeks of being a registered Green. Your statement about group think is spot on. Thank you. After this fiasco I will re-register Independent for the few elections I will be around to witness. I also plan to re-read Eric Hoffer’s ‘The True Believer’. Can’t hurt.

I have spread the word as much as i can and willing to do more…i have family in burlington andi live down south in the last town in vermont…and i along with my family and friends will wirte in…Sanders ….and will keep spreading the word….as much as i can!

Kudos to you for not going HAM on the person who misled ya’ll. I’ve been an organizer since before I was an adult and I would’ve tried to verify this person’s claim first (with some selfies maybe or a direct email from JS). I was open to Stein until she picked Ajamu Baraka as her VP and since then everything she and her campaign have done have just reinforced my original negative judgment. But the tactics of her supporters are really something else.

I really hope he runs again in 2020 against President Clinton because if he doesn’t, the GOP sure as hell is going to beat her in the general election because they’re not going to be stupid and pick Trump again and I don’t want a Republican president, I want Sanders. In the mean time, help Our Revolution.

First of all … my mother lives a few houses down from where Bernie used to live and we know he swapped houses with his kids. So her statement about being neighbors with him for so long was clearly false. Second … Bernie is stumping for Hillary and that is the cause of Bernie supporters no longer supporting him. Third … Stein is outstanding and on the Ballot … Why not flip VT to Stein instead. In fact why not the whole country since we know the polls are just made up rubbish to make dumb sheep think she is getting more than 50 votes in the whole country. Stein had 27 million viewers during the Debates which refused to allow her physical participation due to the fact that she would wipe the floor with both of those racist pigs.
How about u organize a huge boycott of the 2 party system and their false media programming? Bankrupt them. Stein has a lot of support and could flip many states easy. Stop believing in false media and vote for the only honest and well meaning candidate out there right now. Stein!

I know Bernie’s wish to stop Trump is out there. And, now we know he does not want our vote. I believe everyone should suport Jill so she gets her five%, and we should suport the down ballot. I know that Bernie says Trump is the worst choice but i would like to see some reasons why. If he was bullied into this and Jane was too, I would definately not want to vote for Hillary. Without good proof that Trump is the worst choice, and I do not trust the media, I am willing to take my chances with Trump. I KNOW Hillary wants TPP and for that I still consider her an Enemy no mater what Bernie says. If she signed a notorized letter on all corporate media stateing that she would never pass TPP, maybe I would vote for her. NAFTA was covered by the news but since then, there have been other trade agreements and we weren’t warned. We weren’t asked. NOW we have TPP and no one seems to know what TPP is or that it is the death nell of democracy. IT WILL BE VOTED ON IN NOVEMBER. If they vote for it, we must have a president that refuses to pass it. Until I understand why Trump is worse than Hillary he gets my vote. I do not care about his stupid words, a down ballot can stop him. But hillary and Trump get to decide the future of TPP and he says he is agains’t it. I trust him more than hillary. BESIDES I REALLY BELIEVE THE PRESIDENCY WAS DECIDED BEFORE THE NOMINATION PROCESS. CORPORATE HAS DECIDED FOR US..TRUMP PROBABLY NOT AN OPYION EITHER.😡 SO WHY BOTHER TO WORRY.?..😡 It may be too late to even care unless we are ready for a revolution.

Thank youfor clarifying the misinformation. I have, however, never changed my mind about writing in Bernie! He touched my heart along with the numerous other hearts throughout America. I have NEVER believed in a presidential candidate before Bernie.Glad to hear the write-in is still on! I will do what I can to spread the word of the write-in efforts for Bernie!#StillBernie definitely has my write-in vote! Thanks for the e-mail. Jerri

First, I’m sorry to hear how much disappointment, confusion, and even possible damage has occurred to all of the hard working people in your incredible group. It’s also a real shame that your interview was sabotaged. Second, I’m impressed with how generously you are able to forgive such a betrayal. You have an enormous heart. Third, I’m very hopeful that Jill will meet her 5% goal, as I know several people, myself included, who would be voting for or writing-in, either Bernie or Jill, in that order, if only we were able. I can’t help but think there are many others who can and will take advantage of their ability to do so.

I have read everything on this page about this situation. I have lived in Mena, AR (research Clintons) since ’80 .. have never voted for Clintons, Bushes, Obama, etc. I registered for the first time in many years to vote for Bernie. Love the man! Like he said .. “It’s not about me!” .. let that sink in! What was Bernie telling us? He was giving us inside info about the corruption in our Government and World. I was most particularly interested Bernie’s position with Israel and Palestine. I know that Israel is enacting genocide upon Israel’s enemies. War with Iran is on the horizon and I have artist friends in Iran. No one chooses where they will be born, to what parents, nation, language, religion, gender, wealth, or politics. Yet the powers that are in control .. are using us against each other. So when it came to Bernie “endorsing Hillary” I knew that this movement was losing their focus on what matters. What makes a movement is the idea .. not the person. If a person is taken out .. the movement continues!

Shortly before the Dem convention I realized that there was a possibility that Bernie was not going to be the nominee .. and I had already learned a bit about the GREEN PARTY and JILL STEIN. The Green Party was already on the ballot in Arkansas .. and many other states and I wondered why I had not heard about it before .. but I was also not politically knowledgeable .. but this season has certainly been a doosie!! I realized from a little research that a write-in for Bernie would not work in Ark because of “sore-loser laws” .. as also in many other states. I also knew that there were going to be many Bernie people who would not be prepared for the emotional disappointment that was going to envelope them. That energy needs to be shifted to support anyone who is against the oligarchy. Jill Stein and the Green Party .. is the platform that by word and deed .. history and vision .. is the platform that Bernie in principle agreed with .. unless he was not being honest with us. Bernie likely has his hands tied behind his back .. with his family held hostage.

Congress seems to be unable to convict Hillary of anything .. because of all the corrupt people involved. It is unfair that what is expected of those working with security clearances lower on the totem pole are held to high standards of behavior .. while Hillary as SOS and her staff associates are given immunity to betray Americans with treasonous behavior. It shows that we are not going to make a difference by staying with a rigged two party system.

Jill Stein is a breath of fresh air. The Green Party is now on the ballot in all but two US states. That’s pretty significant!! Bernie people (I’m one) need to get over our devotion to one man and realize that the ‘movement message is about us’. It’s not just about us in the sense of Americans .. it’s about us in a much larger sense .. it’s about those innocent men, women, and esp. children who have no voice in our election .. yet our choices will dramatically affect their future. We are talking about deflating the War Machine!!!! We are also talking about something else .. the environment .. all the animals who will be destroyed .. and if this escalates into nuclear war .. it becomes unfathomable. 😦

So all those who want to write Bernie in .. I love the idea .. but it’s not a brilliant move. As has been pointed out .. it’s a plus for the Oligarchy when there is disunity .. misinformation .. lies .. and misrepresentation. I agree that there are people in the Green Party who are not nice .. are not ethical in their manner of communication or action. However, that is the ‘human factor’ .. we are all human .. no matter the party and there always going to be those who are doing and saying the wrong thing. Again .. do we want to be stuck with a two party system from now on .. or are we going to support the democratic idea that we be allowed choices. To me and to many .. DT and HC are just two sides of the same coin. I will not vote for either of them .. even tho I do believe that DT is less likely to have us in continuing wars.

There is a lot of FALSE talk now about how Wikileaks is working with Russia to reveal emails and their secrets. There is a lot of talk about going to war with Russia .. and this talk about emails and security etc. strikes to the heart of something else .. our ability to communicate freely with each other or people in other countries .. without going through a censorship protocol. Russians are no different than us .. we don’t want war .. they don’t either. There is another FALSE narrative that we need to keep in mind .. the idea that those people over there are the Russians .. (who are connected to Wikileaks) .. and then we need to ask ourselves who will be declared as Russian sympathizers????? Those who want whistleblowers to be set free .. and honored as the true heros of our present world. Were it not for the whistleblowers .. we would not know who was telling the truth .. who was manipulating the election process and rigging things so Bernie was marginalized .. and the corruption that is surrounding the Clinton Foundation and B&HC and the Obama administration. The blowback from all this talk .. will be the attempt to censor internet transfer of information .. in much the same way as the MsM dialogue. I don’t want that .. and I doubt that anyone else who uses Google, Facebook, or the internet in general. The NSA .. is on the other side of our keyboard moves! That is basically what is revealed by the whistleblowers. The thing that no one is talking about is the fact that “transparency, Freedom of Information laws (FOIA), Security Clearance .. has to do with revealing the corruption .. the illegal trade deals .. the amount of treason and espionage that is happening behind the scenes in our government .. exposing the pay-to-play behavior of our leaders in the international community. If the TPP etc. is a good thing for America .. then why not print it out so we can all read it and analyze it .. and then vote on it. Why is this trade agreement being kept as a secret? What is there about it .. that we are being kept in the dark? If it’s a good thing .. affecting all Americans .. and supposed to help our economy .. let us see it!!!

A write-in for Bernie is a write-in for Hillary and the Democratic Party.

Vote for Jill Stein and the Green Party .. but do it with understanding .. and knowledge. You will be honoring the message that Bernie gave to us.

Doesn’t matter. You guys are still there and I wanted to ask if a video that I heard from by a friend, was known to you. Fortunately it is! It’s from Monique Lukens who is a write-in candidate for Bernie Sanders in California. https://youtu.be/uWNaBrldxVg

Now look forward and go on, okay? Don’t let anyone come between you and your goal anymore (very easy to say haha) and keep courage for you good work.

Can it be that you need some more publicity? I mean that video has only been seen 200 x or so … I shared it on my facebook and twitter but i don’t really have lots of followers

I don’t think Bernie will be president. I hope he will be the most powerful senator ever. I’m from vt and will vote for Stein in the hopes that in the next pres election there will be 4 parties – 2 right, 2 left to choose from.

I got a Bernie hug last night in Rutland. I said what about the write in thing? He just said, “I’m voting for Hillary.” That’s it, nothing more. I’m had always planned to write Bernie in but I’m thinking Jill now. I’m in just turmoil!

I hope it’s all an honest account. So much false info floating around, it’s very hard to trust anything anymore.

Imo, THIS is the most important time yo vote your heart! Whatever, whoever you want in office is the one to vote for. Period. Do NOT vote out of fear. THAT is exactly the wrong vote to make, and worse that not voting at all!

I love Bernie. Is Bernie perfect? No, but damn near it! Bernie is who I’d vote for if there is a chance the ballot gets counted. But in any state not counting write ins, I’d vote Green.

Id like to see all the Berners and Jillers work together. all Betners/Jillers unite! In write in states vote Bernard. in all other states vote Jill. I think by promoting this apporach both Berners and Jillers win. WE win.

It is incredible the division between some people in the Green Party and some people in the Bernie or Bust movement. What we need to realize is that we all need to unite and ANY vote not for Hillary and Trump is a good vote that will send a progressive message to the establishment that enough is enough. Can we please stop hating on each other and support the universal cause? Write in Bernie in the 11 states and everywhere else Jill I think we can all come to a compromise. Change happens when millions stand up and unite. http://www.howtowriteberniein.com

Though I know ALL of the Bernie write-in stuff is not a scam I do know it’s pushed by Clintonminion trolls from ALOT of experience…
2 reasons it’s bad…
1…most of the votes ARE taken from Jill, except maybe here in Vermont…yes many here will be taken from Clinton & even trump but most WILL be taken from Jill…the only people saying/showing Green is not doing well is the MSM…They lied about Bernie too, remember.?.You can’t honestly think they are not lieing about Jill.?.

2…If the electoral votes are split up it goes to the House of Representatives where they pick the President…
Now is should wait & be done by the new House so people think thats where Bernie will get elected…
Clinton & the DNC have done just about everything possible, so far, that they can do to get her in the Whitehouse so there is a huge chance they will find an excuse to push it up & have this House do it…Obama just got 218 of the 438 of them to agree to Fast Track TPP…they will pick Clinton…the rest.?.did any of them lift a finger to stop what’s been done to Bernie.?.no…they won’t pick him or they would have done something…

This plan not only hurts Jill chances & the future of the Green Party but gives Clinton another chance to steal this election, but with your help…

I’m Vermont, born & raised…I grew up Berning…If Bernie wanted my vote he would ask for it, he isn’t…he said soooo many times “It’s not about me” & write-in MAKES it about him…
Do the research yourselves even if it’s to prove me wrong…
Here is a start for you…California is NOT a write-in anyone state…if you call thier state offices…call Bernie’s office here in Vermont…
NEVER use the numbers posted in write-in stuff, many are fake…
ALWAYS look up telephone numbers, email addresses & such on your own…
Look up stuff in valid sources NOT in articles or blogs or posts…
Don’t follow links people post, research it yourselves…
Good luck…
#FEELTHEBERN

I do alot of research & it seems to have brought me back to this today…I do alot of re-reading when this happens cuz I usually find something I missed the 1st time or something that now makes better sence cuz I’ve done other research…
Takeep note & the end of this article where is SAYS straight out to write-in Bernie as a PROTEST…
AGAIN, here is this movement ENCOURAGING people to ignore Bernie’s own words about this NOT being time for a protest vote…AGAIN making it about him whhen he all but begged people NOT to make it about him…

I hope people have had time to research the House of Representatives to know who will pick Clinton for President cuz of the write-in scam…if you have then not only you’d have seen that I speak the truth but you’ll have found MANY of those “super delegates” are in the House…Super delegates were designed to prevent a weak candidate from getting the nomination…they picked Clinton at the convention & they will pick her in the House…

I can relate to the conflict described here, I found myself in that situation. I live in a swing – and politically rather conventional Dem/Rep and stupid – state, so practically the only chance we progressive – and sympathizers – had, was Bernie winning the Dem primaries.

How he was robbed from winning, everybody more/less know now. I came to know Green Party/Jill Stein in the waves of Bernie’s movement, and after he endorsed HRC, I made my purpose of voting Green when the moment came. Even began contributing $ to the GP in the same amount/frequency I was doing for Bernie since he launched in summer of 2015.

But the moment came, I already voted, early in person, I can’t help myself and i wrote-in Bernard Sanders, even knowing my vote would be voided because in my state Write-ins require an application.

So my vote was nothing else than a personal protest scream and last tribute to the true honest politician that, ultimately, didn’t have any fear of using the word “Socialist”, brought millions of progressive sympathizers into political activity, helped to make the Green Party and other smaller progressive groups to be nationally known and spoken of, and helped as well to be heard the voices of a bunch of progressive media personalities.